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(Alexander, 2010; Cox, 2011; Male, 2012). The social and political basis for curriculum intentions and, consequently, for the nature of classroom curriculum decisions is not neutral (Mufti & Peace, 2012). In recent years English primary education has focused on the impact of the national cur-riculum and the emphasis placed on the core subjects of English and mathematics. However, primary curriculum discussion has re-engaged with curriculum focus and organisation and debates about product or process approaches to design and practice, as consecutive governments have emphasised strongly curriculum ‘delivery’ by teachers (Alexander, 2000, 2010; Kelly, 2009; Wyse et al., 2012). Ways to enact the primary curriculum at times appear contradictory – even in the same school and classrooms – as teachers use a more structured and formal format when teaching the core subjects, while they try to apply a ‘creative curriculum’ approach to the rest of the subjects (Alexander, 2010) through their medium-term units of work. Over the years curriculum construction, design, organisation and plan-ning have explored how the values and perspectives of teachers influence their own approaches (Hawthorne, 1992) and to what extent even in more controlled contexts curricula ‘emerge’ as teachers determine how to shape them in practice (Grundy, 1988, Wyse et al., 2012). There is much now that ‘curriculum making’ encompasses, but a narrower interpretation is the focus in this study. At the turn of the twenty-first century the term cur-riculum making re-emerged, for instance in the context of post-compulsory education curriculum construction in the late 1990s (Bloomer, 1997) and in reflections on policy, professionalism and design issues affecting the primary curriculum and its future (Hulme & Livingston, 2012). Recently Edwards, Miller, and Priestley (2009a) have considered curriculum making at the classroom level of a unit of study. This and another study (Clayton, 2007) serve as preludes to introducing the use and meaning of curriculum making by the GA as a context for its recent projects. The University of Stirling’s Curriculum Making in School and College research project was initiated to investigate curriculum making practice in an upper secondary school and a further education college in Scotland. The focus was ‘cultures of curriculummaking’ (Edwards et al., 2009a, 2009b), particularly in relation to teacher and student perspec-tives and the enactment of the curriculum in classroom settings. In reviewing the related literature, five factors affecting curriculum making were identified:
DOI link for (Alexander, 2010; Cox, 2011; Male, 2012). The social and political basis for curriculum intentions and, consequently, for the nature of classroom curriculum decisions is not neutral (Mufti & Peace, 2012). In recent years English primary education has focused on the impact of the national cur-riculum and the emphasis placed on the core subjects of English and mathematics. However, primary curriculum discussion has re-engaged with curriculum focus and organisation and debates about product or process approaches to design and practice, as consecutive governments have emphasised strongly curriculum ‘delivery’ by teachers (Alexander, 2000, 2010; Kelly, 2009; Wyse et al., 2012). Ways to enact the primary curriculum at times appear contradictory – even in the same school and classrooms – as teachers use a more structured and formal format when teaching the core subjects, while they try to apply a ‘creative curriculum’ approach to the rest of the subjects (Alexander, 2010) through their medium-term units of work. Over the years curriculum construction, design, organisation and plan-ning have explored how the values and perspectives of teachers influence their own approaches (Hawthorne, 1992) and to what extent even in more controlled contexts curricula ‘emerge’ as teachers determine how to shape them in practice (Grundy, 1988, Wyse et al., 2012). There is much now that ‘curriculum making’ encompasses, but a narrower interpretation is the focus in this study. At the turn of the twenty-first century the term cur-riculum making re-emerged, for instance in the context of post-compulsory education curriculum construction in the late 1990s (Bloomer, 1997) and in reflections on policy, professionalism and design issues affecting the primary curriculum and its future (Hulme & Livingston, 2012). Recently Edwards, Miller, and Priestley (2009a) have considered curriculum making at the classroom level of a unit of study. This and another study (Clayton, 2007) serve as preludes to introducing the use and meaning of curriculum making by the GA as a context for its recent projects. The University of Stirling’s Curriculum Making in School and College research project was initiated to investigate curriculum making practice in an upper secondary school and a further education college in Scotland. The focus was ‘cultures of curriculummaking’ (Edwards et al., 2009a, 2009b), particularly in relation to teacher and student perspec-tives and the enactment of the curriculum in classroom settings. In reviewing the related literature, five factors affecting curriculum making were identified:
(Alexander, 2010; Cox, 2011; Male, 2012). The social and political basis for curriculum intentions and, consequently, for the nature of classroom curriculum decisions is not neutral (Mufti & Peace, 2012). In recent years English primary education has focused on the impact of the national cur-riculum and the emphasis placed on the core subjects of English and mathematics. However, primary curriculum discussion has re-engaged with curriculum focus and organisation and debates about product or process approaches to design and practice, as consecutive governments have emphasised strongly curriculum ‘delivery’ by teachers (Alexander, 2000, 2010; Kelly, 2009; Wyse et al., 2012). Ways to enact the primary curriculum at times appear contradictory – even in the same school and classrooms – as teachers use a more structured and formal format when teaching the core subjects, while they try to apply a ‘creative curriculum’ approach to the rest of the subjects (Alexander, 2010) through their medium-term units of work. Over the years curriculum construction, design, organisation and plan-ning have explored how the values and perspectives of teachers influence their own approaches (Hawthorne, 1992) and to what extent even in more controlled contexts curricula ‘emerge’ as teachers determine how to shape them in practice (Grundy, 1988, Wyse et al., 2012). There is much now that ‘curriculum making’ encompasses, but a narrower interpretation is the focus in this study. At the turn of the twenty-first century the term cur-riculum making re-emerged, for instance in the context of post-compulsory education curriculum construction in the late 1990s (Bloomer, 1997) and in reflections on policy, professionalism and design issues affecting the primary curriculum and its future (Hulme & Livingston, 2012). Recently Edwards, Miller, and Priestley (2009a) have considered curriculum making at the classroom level of a unit of study. This and another study (Clayton, 2007) serve as preludes to introducing the use and meaning of curriculum making by the GA as a context for its recent projects. The University of Stirling’s Curriculum Making in School and College research project was initiated to investigate curriculum making practice in an upper secondary school and a further education college in Scotland. The focus was ‘cultures of curriculummaking’ (Edwards et al., 2009a, 2009b), particularly in relation to teacher and student perspec-tives and the enactment of the curriculum in classroom settings. In reviewing the related literature, five factors affecting curriculum making were identified:
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